Why the Wasylyk vs. Gray vote could be the most important vote for Kelowna-Lake Country

Renee Wasylyk (left) and Tracy Gray are vying to be the next MP for Kelowna-Lake Country.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

March 21, 2019 - 6:00 PM

KELOWNA - If you're wondering why all the hubbub about Tracy Gray and Renee Wasylyk vying to be the Conservative Party candidate for Kelowna-Lake Country, there's a couple of reasons. First, because such a public battle for this position is rare among any party and also because Conservative Party members are likely deciding who will be the Member of Parliament.

Current Liberal MP Stephen Fuhr will be sure to have something to say about that, but Fuhr is the only candidate in the last 30 years to hold the seat who wasn't the farthest-right among mainstream party candidates on the ballot (Progressive Conservative, Reform, Alliance, Conservative).

If that history repeats itself — would you bet against it? — that means this is the real vote that matters.

Wasylyk, a local developer without any political experience, declared her intention to run for the nomination last August, followed by Gray in September. Gray is a business person and was a one-term Kelowna city councillor when she announced her intention to run.

Their job was to sign up as many party members — and personal supporters — as possible before the cutoff date of March 9. On Feb. 21, Wasylyk said there were about 1,400 Conservative Party of Canada members in the riding, a figure has not been confirmed by the riding association.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.